Food Adventures: Crabbing in Oregon

Leela Cyd

If you love the idea of catching seafood but go green about the gills thinking of the open ocean, try Dungeness crabbing. You can do it without leaving dry land in the salty fishing town of Garibaldi on Oregon's Tillamook Bay. By: Ivy Manning

June 11, 2013

Stop in at the Garibaldi Marina store to pick up tips, buy a license and bait, and rent gear. It's a short drive past glassy inlets and windblown pines to a prime crabbing spot, an old wooden public pier that was formerly a Coast Guard station.

Find a sunny spot (yes, the sun shines on the Oregon coast occasionally), and within a few hours you've probably caught the limit: 12 crabs. On the way back, nip into the Food Basket for everything you need to craft a simple feast: lemons, a baguette, and a shell cracker. Back at the marina, they'll cook up that sweet, snowy crabmeat while nearby picnic tables beckon.

If crabs fail to crawl into your trap, you can always stroll across the marina to the Tillamook Bay Boathouse and buy fresh cooked crabs and a few cans of local albacore tuna and smoked salmon. Either way, you're guaranteed a fresh seafood picnic with a stunning view of the bay.

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